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Scylla is the opening boss battle that Kratos confronts on his journey to Atlantis. Summoned by Poseidon, she destroys everything in her path using her tentacles and arms, while also releasing small offspring (known as Scylla Brood) to do the same.

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Greek Mythology

Scylla (pronounced /ˈsɪlə/, sil-uh; Greek: Σκύλλα, Skulla) was a monster that lived on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite its counterpart Charybdis. The two sides of the strait were within an arrow's range of each other—so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis would pass too close to Scylla and vice versa. Scylla was a horrible sea monster with six long necks equipped with grisly heads, each of which contained three rows of sharp teeth. Her body consisted of twelve tentacle-like legs and a cat's tail and with four to six dog-heads ringing her waist.

Odysseus and his crew met with the beast in the Odyssey.
In God of War: Ghost of Sparta, Scylla was a sea beast that Kratos met on his journey to Atlantis. She was Atlantis' protector and was summoned by Poseidon, alongside the Tritons, to stop Kratos from making it to the city. The encounter with the creature is very similar to that of the Hydra in God of War. Scylla destroyed ships with her tentacles and arms, while simultaneously releasing small spider-like offspring, Scylla Brood, to attack their prey.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta

Kratos tried to protect his ship by fighting off her tentacles, but eventually the beast succeeded in crushing it, forcing the battle to continue on the Atlantean shore. There, Scylla finally appeared in full, attacking Kratos, who was able to temporarily subdue her by destroying one of her six eyes and severely injuring her lower jaw.

She was later seen stalking Kratos in Atlantis, but lost one of her tentacles in the ensuing fight. After the encounter with Callisto, she tried to drag Kratos underwater, only to be used as a means for Kratos to get to the Methana Volcano. There, she retreated again after a strain of lava was dropped on her. While Kratos was sidling along a wall in the Volcano Core, Scylla appeared again; it was shortly before the volcano started to erupt. After a brief underwater confrontation, Kratos used a giant Archimedean Screw to drill through the beast's head, finally killing her.

Trivia

Scylla's boss fight pays tribute to all opening boss fights in the main series, all in one quick time event. When Kratos is defeating Scylla for the first time, he is seen flying to her from above, slicing her cheek, just as he will do to Colossus of Rhodes in God of War II. Then, he stabs her in the eye in similar manner to how he executed the first Hydra head, and the Basilisk. Then, Kratos is seen pulling the giant hook out of Scylla's jaw, which looks exactly like in God of War III's first battle with Hippocampi, only the water horse lost its jaw completely, while the sea beast was just brutally wounded.

Scylla seems to show some features similar to the monster from the 2008 film Cloverfield, although this might be a coincidence.

Scylla is the only opening boss in God of War series which is actually fought only once. All further encounters with Scylla, including her death, are either cutscenes or quick time events.

Scylla has a secondary mouth inside the first one. This can be clearly noticed as she screams.